Archive for the ‘Ravi Zacharias’ Category

Archbishop William Temple, years ago, gave us a definition for worship. He said, “Worship is the submission of all of our nature to God; it is the quickening of conscience by His holiness; nourishment of mind by His truth; purifying of imagination by His beauty; opening of the heart to His love; and submission of will to His purpose. All this gathered up in adoration is the greatest of expressions of which we are capable.” There you have it. Worship binds the diversities of our nature and gives it a unity of expression. Life is no longer fragmented. Life is unified. And from that internal unity flows worship in a community of believers. I do not believe that it is accidental that in two of the most dramatic encounters that Jesus had—one with the woman at the well, and the other with the woman who poured out the alabaster ointment—the theme of worship is the culminating point. The whole purpose of God’s dealing with Israel in the wilderness was to show them what true worship was meant to be. The final book of the Old Testament, the book of Malachi, the theme is on worship. The culminating vision in the book of Revelation is a scene of worship. Our heavenly Father seeks such in us. If our Gospel is to be felt, it will be felt in the community of worship. In fact, a worshipping community may be one of the most powerful forms of evangelism. That is why the church must remain central.

Malcolm Muggeridge …talks of the time during the Biafran War in Nigeria, when he was covering the story as a journalist. At one point, he said there were some political prisoners to be executed. They were lined up, and the executioners were readied with their weapons. There was a host of media representative watching. The commanding officer shouted: “Ready! Aim!” Just then, one cameraman for a news network screamed out: “Stop! My battery is dead.” The execution was suspended for a few moments while he got his fresh battery pack in place. The commanding officer was informed, and the command began again: “Ready! Aim! Fire” —Bang! Bang!—And the execution was done. Muggeridge went on to ask the question, “Some future generation will discuss as to wherein lay the greatest barbarism? On the part of the executioners? On the part of the viewers?” “Some wise person,” said he, “might opt for the cameras.”

Malcolm Muggeridge, some months before he died.He repeated to me a conversation he had with Svetlana Stalin, the daughter of Josef Stalin, who told of the last moments of her father’s life.Many of you may remember that once upon a time, Stalin was a seminary student, preparing to go into the ministry.But somehow, he too, lost his faith in God, and was determined to obliterate faith in God from his people.As he lay dying, he sat up in bed, one more time, clenched his fist towards the heavens and fell back on his pillow, and was gone.Imagine! His last gesture on earth was to clench his fist towards God.Thankfully, history has shown that Stalin could not kill the Gospel in his land, though he tried hard.